


By The Way, Stability Be Damned

by ArchiveResponcibly



Category: DanPlan, Saw (Movies), The Purge (Movies)
Genre: Hospitals, I'm new and have no idea what I'm doing, M/M, Minor Character Death, Moral Debates, More tags to be added, Much Cursing, Nuclear War, Please leave suggestions, anything claiming to be science is complete bull, deserted island, if the danplan creaters are offended please tell me, if you've done this plot please tell me, lots of death really, world jumping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2020-11-09 02:09:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 14,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20845811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchiveResponcibly/pseuds/ArchiveResponcibly
Summary: Some would say that it's futile to attempt to understand the mind. however, some would like to try, and they shall be surely rewarded. our unfortunate protagonist, Stephen Ng, knows quite well that the mind can be quite terrifying. how ever does one understand it? or even escape it once one's been sucked in.(I'm pretty sure anything claiming to be science in this is bullshit. Don't believe anything I say. If you'd like to do reaserch on your own, add it in the comments, this shit is facinating)





	1. The Start Of A Dream Is Always The Easiest To Stomach

Stephen could not tell you what awoke him that day. He could guess, though. It may have been the hard, curved wall his face was pressed against. Maybe the discomfort swirling around his neck.

The very first thing, he realised, he did not remember getting on this plane. Even more pressing of a matter, he did not recognise the boy who was currently leaning on his shoulder. 

Stephen jumped back, deciding that the uncomfortable wall was preferable to the boy he doesn’t recognise. The boy stirred, the tip of his head still clinging to Stephen’s shoulder.

“Mmh, hmm, Stephen?” the boy opened his eyes slightly, blue escaping and filling up the small area. Exhaustion cling to the blue, trying, yet failing to dull the colour. 

“Who du fuq?” Stephen asked, his voice barely quieter than a yelp. Some part of Stephen recognised him. As if he’d known him so long ago that his conscience forgot.

“Don’t be so loud.” the boy told him drowsily, moving over to continue his nap. “You’ll wake that baby.” he giggled. “their mother barely got them to stop crying!” 

A voice sounded from the aisle seat. “Hosuh! You have to get better sleep. Did you even sleep at all last night?” Stephen looked over to see a green haired boy. His eyes were glued to a laptop screen and black earbud wires wound around him in a tangled mess that barely reached the side of the computer facing the other two. 

The same feeling washed over Stephen once more. Who were these people? They obviously knew each other, and he hoped to god that this Hosuh knew him. 

“Daniel noooo!” Hosuh whined as Daniel pulled him away from Stephen’s shoulder. “His shoulder is comfy!” Daniel laughed, looking back to Stephen. 

“Does he do this all the time? My god, no wonder you don’t sleep on airplanes.” unsure of what to do, Stephen forced a chuckle from his lips just as Hosuh escaped Daniel and fell back asleep, still on Stephens shoulder. This time, both conscience boys laughed. 

It must have been another hour of Stephen being half conscience, looking out the window, and trying to remember anything. The only things he could recall were facts. His name is Stephen, he lives on the planet earth, he is twenty four. However, he couldn’t recall any memories, or even people. He tried to deduce who these two were. 

His hands reached down into the pocket of his jeans where he thankfully found a phone. The case was black, with the logo dp written in gold lettering on the back. Once again, he recognised it, but couldn’t place it. 

Turning it over, the screen was cracked, but turned on instantly. There was no password, just a screen with the lettering “knives are too informal” once again, that damn feeling. He shivered slightly, hoping Hosuh wouldn’t wake up. Swiping up, as the small white letters flashing across the screen told him to do, the screen changed again. His background was a picture of cartoon versions of the three. Daniel was in the center, Hosuh on the side looking confused, and Stephen himself was slapping Dan.

He clicked on the messaging app on the bottom of the screen. Pulling it up, he noticed that there were three people he texted a lot; garbage(Dan), cinamonroll(Hosuh), and sociopath(Jay). He stared at the third name. It seemed as if the two were close friends, but no Jay was on the plane.

He turned to Daniel, deciding to try his luck asking the green haired boy. A lump caught in his throat. Unsure of why, he was afraid of what would happen if these two realised he didn’t know anything. “D-Daniel?” Stephen asked. The other chuckled and turned to look at him.

“Wow Stephen, trapped on a plane and suddenly you’re afraid of me?”

“No, it’s… fuck you.” Stephen groaned. Daniel laughed again. Hosuh stirred slightly, but didn’t wake back up.  
“That’s more like you.” 

Stephen glared at Daniel, trying to be intimidating while his mind processed the information. Seems like I’m an ass to this Daniel, I can live with that. “Why isn’t Jay here?”  
Daniel laughed at that one. “Wow, neither of you get any sleep.” he complained jokingly. “Jay was busy, remember?” another laugh. “Heck, he was probably lying about that. It’s not like he would have wanted to come to Hawaii with us.”

So Jay was invited. Stephen deduced, turning back to the sleeping Hosuh for just a second. When he looked back to see if Daniel was questioning him, the other had already turned back to what appeared to be a mobile RPG game. 

He returned to staring out the window. The ocean below was a bright blue, sparkling and shining like Hosuh's eyes had. A smallish island loomed ahead, trees dotting the pale beaches. As well as an adequate sized mountain stretching slightly off-center from the denser tree area. 

The intercom of the plane turned on. The rasp of the pilots voice grated through the speakers in the ceiling. “We are experiencing some turbulence, so the seatbelt sign will be turned on. All passengers need to return to their seats as soon as possible.” 

Just as the beep sounded of the pilot turning off the speaker, a bump ran across the cabin. Then another, and another. Until the bumps spread like wildfire, never ceasing or stopping. Hosuh awoke just to scream with a couple other passengers. The rasp of the intercom turned on once again, but not a single person could hear over the screaming in the cabin. 

Soon enough, the steady feeling of being held upright by the wings dropped away as the plane nose dived heading straight towards the island. The pilot pulled up as much as they could, hoping for the cleanist landing possible. 

Soon enough, an audible crash sounded everywhere and many screams were cut off. Stephens vision black for a moment before he was completely knocked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading my very first Archive chapter!!! I do hope you enjoyed. I think that this will be by far the shortest chapter, but I'm not sure. updates irregularly, pretty much when I have another chapter ready.  
thanks again!


	2. How water Falls From Polluted Skies

When Stephen had awoken a few hours ago, he was uncomfortable. However, once consciousness finally returned to his throbbing head, he felt like death. Sharp pains crawled all over his body, digging claws into his flesh and somehow the blood underneath. He let out a scream which sent more claws from his face, splitting open his cheeks. 

A cry came from nearby. As gently as possible, Stephen turned his head to face the stranger, ignoring the stabbing pains coming from his neck. The stranger knelt down and stared at Stephen, fear engulfing their baby blue eyes.

“Oh, god, Stephen! Please be okay.” Hosuh prayed. Stephen let out a pitiful whine, unable to do much else. Hosuh leaped back up, relief following his eyes as they traveled to the group emerging from the wrecked plane. “Medkit! Someone please get a medkit!” 

A girl with bright pink pigtails rushed over, handing the small, red box to Hosuh and running back to the plane in one swift motion. “This, this is going to hurt… a lot, I’m sorry. Bite down on this.” a small rag was stuffed into Stephen’s mouth just as Hosuh took out a small vile from the box. He poured it onto another rag and reached down towards the most worrying of Stephens injuries, a large gash running from the side of shin up to his knee. Hosuh winced slightly, eyes shut tight as he dabbed the rag onto the gash. 

Stephen almost vomited from pain. Hosuh was trying his hardest to ignore the jolts Stephen would make every time the damn rag met one of his cuts. He fell asleep at some point, having spent all his energy on making Hosuh’s job easier, as well as dealing with each sting. 

His eyelids fluttered open once more to see a slightly hazy beach in front of him. “Oh, you’re awake.” Hosuh muttered from next to him. Stephen turned his head, looking towards the boy who had propped himself up next to Stephen. Both were leaning against a fallen tree, it’s bark gnarled and a stump drilled itself into Stephen’s back. 

Hosuh looked out over the beach, only a few people where in sight of him, carrying baggage to and fro in an attempt to collect anything they could. “What have they found?” Stephen asked, generally curious, but also just wanting to make sure Hosuh knew he was alright, At least partially. He didn’t know the boy that well, but he found himself quite fond of him.   
“Not much.” Hosuh admitted, sighing again. “Only a few peoples luggage survived in the slightest, most things were sent into the ocean.” Hosuh   
chuckled slightly. God, he must have been exhausted to be able to find amusement in such a thing. “Yours was completely intact, however, nothing was inside.” he laughed again, slightly louder. “Hell! They couldn’t even use any of it. I think Dan took it to collect things” Stephen worried about the grey haired boy next to him. From all he could tell, Hosuh was sweet and caring, trying to find a better way to do things. Yet here he was, finding amusement in the oddities of Stephen’s bag and cursing over it. 

The strawberry blonde from earlier ran over, sweat glistened at her brow and her shirt had already been torn in multiple places. “Hey, medic kid, now that purple over here is awake, could y’all make a fire?” Hosuh nodded, snickering again at her referring to them that way. 

Hosuh stood up slowly, his tiredness from earlier dragging him down. “Who is she?” Stephen asked the other. 

“Not sure.” Hosuh admitted, linking his arm under Stephens shoulders and pulling him up carefully. “I think I heard some of the others with her calling her Ann, she seems to have a nickname for everyone.” he chuckled. “Guess I’m medic kid, no surprise. Think I heard her calling Daniel tree while you were out.” 

Stephen laughed at that, the movement sending stings through his nerves. He didn’t want to stop. “Medic kid?” he asked before he could stop himself. What if Hosuh was actually in medical school? Or was helping other people while he was out?

Thankfully, Hosuh just snickered again. “How else was I to wait for you to wake up? They would have sent me all over,” his voice got slightly quieter, less amused and more worried. “Then you would have been all alone.” 

The two slowly made their way over to a small camp that was set up just behind the tree line, where they could see the beach, but also slightly protected from the elements. 

“Ah, Stephen, you’re awake.” Dan said from in front of a small pile of twigs and chip packets. “Thank god, some people were worried you wouldn’t make it.” he went quiet. “We were all quite desperately hoping for no more casualties.” 

Hosuh set Stephen down next to the pile before sitting in between the other two. “Any ideas?” he asked, deliberately avoiding what Daniel had just said. Dan sighed slightly, shaking his head.

“None.”

“Stephen?”

Stephen hummed for a second. His immediate thought was lens based, there was surely glass somewhere that had made it, right? “Lens based?” he suggested, shaking his head as soon as the words had left his mouth. “Nevermind.” 

The three sat in silence for a few more tense moments. Stephen looked off into the trees, tapping his finger against the ground. Though he tried to keep his mind on the fire, it kept wandering back to the stings all across his body. Mostly, the pain was coming from the long gash on his leg, but less serious cuts and bruises littered his skin. 

He looked over to Hosuh, who was twiddling his thumbs and staring at the twigs intently. He hadn’t had many injuries, not nearly as many as Stephen at least. Mostly the same littering of cuts and bruises, as well as a large one twirling around his right shoulder.

Daniel was pretty well off, considering that he had a few minor bruises and very few cuts. The most pressing of his injuries was a decent cut on his arm that had already been bandaged. He himself was staring off towards the beach. 

“Bow drill?” Daniel said at last, looking back to Hosuh and Stephen, who nodded. Hosuh didn’t seem like he agreed for the correctness, only that he trusted Daniels judgment. Stephen, however, felt certain Dan was right for no reason other then the voice whispering in the back of his head. Correct. 

“Defidentally.” Stephen agreed, standing up slowly. His leg was screaming, but his other injuries didn’t mind the sudden change as much. Hosuh followed suit immediately, propping Stephen up.   
“We should go find wood, then, right?” Hosuh questioned, looking up and sounding as if he was guessing. The other two nodded. “Let’s go, then!” he cheered.

The two trudged off at a pretty slow pace. Stephen slowly started walking on his own, at least as much as possible. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Hosuh, he just didn’t want to be reliant on someone else if an escape needed to be made. 

“Are you sure you’re good on your own? You took a pretty nasty hit there.” Hosuh reminded him, as if he needed it. Stephen shook his head. He walked further, putting as much weight on his left foot as possible. Every time he winced, Hosuh would look over at him pitifully, but Stephen would just wave him off. Soon enough, Hosuh eyes failed to travel away from the messy dirt in front of him. 

“I think this bark looks alright.” Stephen said, guessing. The voice in his head seemed to sigh, good enough. Hosuh nodded, springing up to grab a branch from the bottom. 

“Let’s get these back to Dan, he’ll be wondering why we’re taking so long.” the two trudged back, Stephen’s wincing becoming less and less frequent. Soon enough, they had returned back to Dan’s makeshift fire. Hosuh handed him the wood, assuming Daniel knew what to do to make the bow. He plopped down and sighed. “Goodnight.” he told them, curling up on himself. His position reminded Stephen of a cat, something he could remember vividly. Did he have one? He had no idea at this point. Maybe he could find a way to get it out of Daniel, worth a shot at least. 

Daniel, however, was looking at him with a look of frustration, worry, and confusion. All three emotions twisting his features in many different ways. “I… I don’t know how to do this.” he admitted, looking towards Stephen for help. 

“I… I’ll try to help, I guess.” the voice seemed to grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna say thank y'all, once again, for reading this randomness! It really means a lot to me, so this will probabaly end most chapters.


	3. How Hunger May Bring Yet A Few Confessions

It couldn’t have been an hour later that Stephen found himself curled up under his jacket, yet another article with “Knives Are Too Informal” lettered on the front, and dp in the corner. The waves lapped over the feet of an extremely flustered Daniel, who was trying to catch fish with a net made from fishnet stockings. Stephen chuckled at his supposed friend. 

He rolled over but a few minutes later, bored by Daniel’s stubbornness. He scanned the other side of the beach for a certain blue eyed boy. The tall figure was soon spotted discussing animatedly with a few others. He threw his arms up in the air and crossed over to Stephen, plopping down besides the other. 

“Are you alright?” Stephen asked, unsure of what else to say. Hosuh sighed, bunching up his knees to his chest and hugging them. He buried his face in the crook of his knees, frustrated and fearful. 

“Is it that obvious?” Hosuh asked, his voice muffled, yet no sarcasme edged his tone. He looked up a Stephen, softening slightly. His fingers loosened from being interlocked ever so slightly, and his back straightened up at a barely noticeable rate. “The others are fighting, something about rations and shelter.”

Stephen himself sighed, Anne had tried to get him into a discussion of rations. He declined and played the injured card, returning to the three’s camp and sitting down. He hadn't had the willpower to get himself upright and rejoin her. Hosuh's story made him want to even less. 

“There is too much thinking involved in this.” Hosuh added, moving his fingers to play with the tips of his ponytail, and pouting slightly. Stephen chuckled lightly. 

“Of course.” 

Hosuh's pout deepened. “Yes, but I just… I wish it wasn’t! Even just all of us agreeing on the right way to do things.” 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Hosuh laughed. Stephen smiled, sitting up and turning to face Hosuh head-on. “But really, we could hunt, or something? Having more food might make them calm down. At least a little?” Hosuh nodded, thinking over the idea. A smile slowly spread across his face. 

\------------

The two slowly trudged through the deeper parts of the forest. The walk began calmly, both just happy to be doing something productive and be away from the others. However, soon enough, with the silence begging Stephen’s mind to wonder, he began to worry about Hosuh noting his fearful demeanor. 

“Are you alright?” Hosuh asked, once Stephen’s over-thinking had polluted the air between them. Shit! The voice yelled, terrified for the first time since Stephen had first heard it rambling around in his head. 

“I… I just… uhm.” Stephen fought the words coming from his chest as they made their way to his throat, yet pushed them through his lips. Hosuh looked quizzically at him. 

“Stephen?” Hosuh asked, turning around and stopping in his tracks. His expression twisted into a distorted look of worry. “Is everything okay?” Stephen sighed. 

It’s now or never. “I think I hit my head… on the landing, I think.” he stuttered. “I… don’t remember anything.” 

In seconds, someone was hugging him. Not really sure what to do, Stephen hugged Hosuh back hesitantly. “Don’t worry… not about anything! As soon as we get off this island, really.” 

Stephen smiled slightly. Whatever the hell was going on here, he felt that Hosuh was gonna be on his side. “Let’s hunt, then.” 

“Let’s hunt!” Hosuh stepped back, smiling again. Then he stopped, suddenly unsure. “Um… how do you hunt? I’ve never done this before.” they both laughed, slightly nervously. 

Voice? Stephen asked himself jokingly. No response. Well, you’re helpful. “Honestly, neither have I. Let’s figure this shit out.” the two trudged on for another hour, jumping recklessly at any prey they could find, and missing. Obviously. 

\------------

Finally, they found themselves with a small boar. It was little, easily carried by Stephen back to camp. The two were laughing, Hosuh was spewing out as many jokes as he could think of, not really caring for telling them correctly. They enjoyed it nevertheless. 

“Where have you two been?” Anne asked as they pushed their way through the last bit of trees. She was about to chastise them again when she noticed the boar Stephen was carrying. 

“A BOAR!” another survivor cried excitedly. “This is exactly what we need, come on, Anne, let’s add this to the stack. Thanks Med Kid, Purple!” the boar was yanked out of Stephens hands and the two strangers were soon off. 

“That fixed it?” Hosuh asked, half joking, half hoping. He turned his head slightly, looking over to where about six or seven survivors were congregated. They were still arguing. Anne walked over to them, presenting the boar as if it were a lifeboat. 

Though their faces lit up like fireworks, they turned to each other to argue once again, probably about what to do with it. Hosuh groaned. “Dang it!” Stephen sighed himself, thinking of what could possibly help next. 

“Maybe Daniel has a better plan?” Stephen asked, regretting it instantly. Fuck! I’m supposed to be an asshole to him, shit. 

Hosuh, however, merely laughed. “I’m not so sure I trust Daniel’s plans, his last one got us a youtube channel.” he chuckled again. “With the same name, nonetheless.” is that what dp stands for Dan’s Plan?

“Maybe not then?” Stephen questioned. Hosuh seemed to be about the nod, but then stopped. 

“Maybe we should get another opinion, actually.” Hosuh noted, looking off into the foaming waves, sounding unsure for either response. “I know you don’t care much for his ideas, but more could be helpful.” a hint of confidence seeped into his statement. He turned back to Stephen. 

“Well, if you insist. Let’s find Dan.” Stephen replied, spinning the conversation into a joke. Hosuh laughed, running off towards the camp. 

\------------

The two explored the so-far claimed area by the survivors, joking aimlessly (Hosuh repeated about half of his previous jokes, telling about three new ones). As six o’clock rolled around, they began to worry about where Daniel was. 

Anne ran over to them. “You two have been wandering around for an hour now!” she huffed, standing in front of them and blocking their way. “What on earth have you been doing?” 

“Where is Daniel?” Stephen asked her quickly, before Hosuh could apologise. Anne looked quizzically at them. 

“Daniel? Is he the boy with green hair?” Hosuh nodded. “Oh, he’s been down by the water, far side.” shit! He left the explored area. And, before Anne could give them something else to do, they were off, running down the beach. They laughed slightly, mostly at Daniel, and also themselves. 

Soon enough, they found themselves on the far side of the beach, where sand gave way to dirt. The mountain overheld overshadowed the area. For once, they were thankful for Daniels obnoxiously green hair, for it glinted in the dimming light. 

“Oh, hey guys, whatcha doing here?” Daniel asked, stepping out of the darker area. “I thought nobody would find me over here.” he scratched the back of his neck, standing up from where he was sitting on the sandy dirt. 

“We’re here to see what you’re doing.” Hosuh told him, looking over to the ground where Dan was sitting. Stephen followed his gaze. On the ground, littered with dirt and sand, was a large net of varying colours. 

“Oh.” Dan laughed slightly. “I’m trying to fish, the area by the others is empty.” he explained. “...And I didn’t want Anne telling me to do something else.” 

The group laughed. “Can we help?” Hosuh asked.

“That would be much appreciated.” Dan replied. And so the group stayed, sitting by the edge of the water, their net worrying any fish that came by. Daniel tried to jump in and catch a larger fish (they had no idea what it was) that was trying to escape. It took far too long for the fish to return to the net.


	4. Needs Kill Just As Quickly As Wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning~ I'm setting this story to mature instead of teen, mostly for this chapter. don't worry, no smut. I am, however, trying to get gags with some of the descriptions. if you have a weak stomach, skip the last paragraph and just read the ending notes.  
fun fact~ I wrote the majority of this chapter between service and reception of a friends wedding.

After some time, the three were forced to return to Anne's ruling. She sent Hosuh off to take care of the hunting injury of another survivor. Dan and Stephen, however, were yet to prove an interesting use of themselves to Anne. They were sent off with Stephen's bag, which had been filled with the so-far collected provisions. 

"We should take some extra for Hosuh." Dan suggested. "I'll bet you five bucks he won't get to eat until at least ten."

"Anne will have our heads." Stephen responded, his voice negative. He pivoted his heels away from the camp and towards the sick bay (a small plot of the least gross sand that Anne had insisted Hosuh take over). 

The sky was still illuminating the beach well enough that Anne was still holding out making one of them give out torches. 

"Why are you two here?" Hosuh asked as the two boys closed in on the sick bay.

"Signing our death warrants." Stephen replied nonchalantly. Hosuh laughed. 

"How so?" 

Dan handed him a half a lizard. Hosuh's eyes widened and he ate it quickly. "You should give out to the sick as well, they need it more than me." 

A grin stretched loosely across Stephen's face. "Sure thing, doc." Hosuh laughed again. 

\------------

About two hours later, Stephen was under the jacket once again, not even half asleep. Around him stood a small wooden tent strung together with clothes and fallen trees.

Silver hair tickled his collar. Hosuh, unlike Stephen, was remotely asleep. "stop being so… so awake!" Hosuh muttered, annoyed and tired.

"you act like I'm not trying." Stephen replied sarcastically. 

Hosuh opened his eyes and sat up, glaring at the other. "sleep, now!" he appeared much more like a disgruntled cat who's chosen pillow refused to stop moving. 

"stop worrying so much." Stephen replied flatly. "I'll be fine, how are you sleeping anyways?" 

"by closing my eyes and  _ lying down. _ " Hosuh responded, mimicking Stephen's flat manner. they both chuckled. 

"fine, Fine, no need to twist my arm." Stephen told him, laying down onto the sandy dirt. rays of inky blues shone down on his face. 

Hosuh lay back down, still clinging to the other for warmth. The cold air was barely haltered from the shelter by the warmer jackets some others had brought. 

Once the inky blues had almost completely transformed into blacks, Stephen finally found himself asleep He was uncomfortable, but just the slightest, okay. 

\------------

Stephen arose to orangey-yellow sunlight warming the small area he seemed to hold. Dirt stained his hair, turning the bright purple into more of a maroon colour. 

He sat up slowly, though his head began to spin anyways. A leaf or two slipped from his hair and fluttered back to the ground. His head turned instantly, looking over at where Hosuh was sprawled out, facing away from him. 

_ Strange _ .  _ Wouldn’t he have been cold?  _ The answer, however, came to him as he turned the other over to wake him up. 

Hosuh's face was green. A disgusting, vomit green colour spreading across his features, mangling them one by one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to those who skipped, when Stephen woke up, Hosuh was quite dead.  
sorry the chapter is so short! I know I said the first would be the shortest, but I had no ideas and I already think it feels kinda like filler. I can say, however, that the next one will be longer, and when everything starts getting creepy.


	5. How A Cruel World Fights Those Who Stay, Even When They Cannot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning~this is when everything gets all fucky-wucky  
fun fact~inky is Res's favorite adjective  
Sorry this took so long! something came up and the univers in general just does not wish me to write angsty Stosuh fluff.

He was given a towel to sit under. Wrap around himself as the closest thing to paramedics this damn island had inspected his tent. It didn’t take all that long for Anne to come over to him. 

“I’m sorry.” was all she said. She stood there, towering over Stephen’s hunched form. He wanted to retort something clever, or just plain rude, Passive aggressive, maybe.

However, the only words he could find himself muster were a soft “thanks.” before going back to curling up under the blanket. He wanted to gag, so, so badly. He begged any god he could think of to clear the picture of Hosuh's body from his mind. 

He spent the rest of the day on autopilot, refusing to do any more than necessary. Even Daniel had the good sense not to bother him. The group didn’t have shovels, so a few willing souls dug a shallow grave where the bravest of them all put the boy. 

Stephen felt like the world was moving around him, too fast yet too damn slowly. Someone was getting food. Good. someone was purifying water. Good. someone was redoing the SOS sign. Good. 

The waves lapped apologetically at his feet, unsure of what else to do. Words jumbled in Stephens head, unsure of how to cling to one another in any kind of discernable manner. 

“Hey.” Daniel muttered, sitting down cautiously by the water, barely a foot from Stephens curled form. “Would you like to fish with me? Take you mind off…” the green haired boy trailed off aimlessly. “Please? For me, at least.” 

Stephen begged himself to say no, or yes. He wasn’t quite sure. Not moving sounded good. Moving sounded good, too, though. “I…” He trailed off himself, looking over at Daniel. 

The other’s face was already plagued by disappointment. Stephen sighed. “I… I’ll go fishing with you.” Dan’s face lit up with some kind of tired smile. He picked himself up, the bottoms of his jeans darkened by the water. 

He stuck his hand out for Stephen to grab. “Come on, then.” Stephen sighed again, partially joking this time. “God, you’re exhausting.” 

The two boys made their way over to the corner where the three had fished together just the day before. Stephen cursed his mind for bringing up Hosuh, again. 

A low hum came from where Dan was unpacking the net. The beat sounded familiar to Stephen, though only slightly. “What… what are you singing?” 

Dan looked up slyly. “Oh, Stephen, you think I’ll make it that easy on you?” Both laughed. “But really, it’s called This Messed Up Wonderful World Exists For Me. great song.” 

They sat around for an hour or two. It wasn’t nearly as energetic as the first time, but colour soon returned in bright to the oceans waves. The lines of each lapping wall of water became crisper. 

\------------

A cry of excitement came from camp. Well, more like ten. A younger girl, pigtails still clinging to the messy blonde hair utop her head ran up to the two. “A ship is here! A giant cruise ship! They’re letting us on!” 

The next few moments happened in a blur. Stephen, Daniel, and the girl raced back just as the worker was calling for the final passengers. He let them on instantly, not too worried about anything. 

The three were directed to rooms under the deck, below the water line, even. Cool blues and greens filled the porthole in the small room Stephen and Dan were given. 

A small notice was given to all passengers, including any luggage or positions that survived the ordeal.

_ Exactly twelve original passengers survived the ordeal. Eight died in the crash, pilot and co pilot included, one died from injuries shortly after, and the last died from disease, assumed to be transmitted through a mosquito.  _

Stephen wanted to scream. The draining greys from earlier threatening to return. Ten people, dead, just like that. Not to mention, not a single one named. All those people, just there, statistics left up to someone to decipher. 

Daniel walked up behind the other. “Don’t read that, it’ll only piss you off.”  _ too late.  _ Stephen’s mind argued. Daniel took his silence for disagreement, which he guessed it kind of was. Suddenly, the paper was ripped out of Stephen’s hands and thrown into a trash basket. “Ignore it.” Daniel repeated, stepping back and plopping down onto his bed. 

Stephen sighed, something he found himself doing quite often now. “Maybe we should sleep.” he pondered. Dan nodded vigorously, already dragging the thin sheets over his frame. 

The floor was soft, slightly cushioned. The mattress was lumpy, but felt to Stephen like a cloud. He fluffed the pillow out once, not quite sure why. He lay down, closing his eyes, though not to comfort. 

\------------

The first thing he realised, in his exhausted state, was how shit the timing had been. Hosuh died, then the rest of them were saved. The group whittled down to twelve, just to be picked up by a ship with six open double rooms. 

The next thing he realised, was that once the ship took the group to the nearest  _ populated  _ land, Stephen was going to have to go back to a life he didn’t remember. 

_ “Don’t worry… not about anything! As soon as we get off this island, really.” _

\------------

His eyes opened slowly, dry and tired. Before him stood the blurry picture of a young girl, her eyes open wide in amazement. “You must be Purple!” she cried excitedly. “Silver talks about you a lot. He says you have the most brilliant Red eyes.” suddenly, she was right in front of him, staring him in the eyes. “You certainly do.” 

Unsure of what to say, Stephen just muttered, “thanks, I guess.” normally, he wouldn’t say he knew when he was in a dream, but this was certainly a dream, right? Little girls don’t teleport and Hosuh is dead. 

the little girl smiled again, showing pearly white teeth just too sharp to be human, but not sharp enough to be frightening. "Silver is asleep right now." she explained, reappearing in her original position. the only thing showing her constant movements were the shifting pinks and oranges of her warm, sunset pigtails. "Mama says he'll be up soon." her grin widened. "come back then!" and with that, Stephen disappeared from the inky, white world. 

\------------

wordless noise filled his ears. The loud chatter was just enough to rouse him from his sleep, but not bad enough to make his head hurt.

he looked up to see bright eyes staring at him impatiently. "wake up, sleepyhead." Hosuh told him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes are being weird so just imagine this is Hosuh with a spray can labeled "Glitch Repellent"


	6. How Familiarity Could Be The Death Of Sanity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's kinda late! damn ethics, being hard to write and shit. please enjoy.

Hosuh's eyes continued to penetrate Stephen’s. He must still be dreaming, he reasoned. Hosuh was  _ dead _ . As much as he hated it, he had to accept the fact. 

“Are you alright?” Hosuh's eyes softened, boring farther into Stephen’s mind. He stooped down to stare into the red eyes of the other. The blue hue of Hosuh's eyes lay at the cusp of icy and bright, with inky circles edging his irises. 

It took Stephen another second to realise Hosuh's eyes had become expecting. “Fine, I guess.” The silver haired boy didn’t seem convinced, but he stood back up.

“You’re break is over.” Hosuh stated, looking out the window once again. “We’re getting to the end of the long section, you’ll have to work again.” he turned back to the other, smiling lightly. “Don’t fall asleep.”

Stephen picked himself up, the cushy chair he’d been sitting on suddenly felt glued to his weary bones. He felt sore. So, so sore. A shudder racketed his body, making Hosuh’s worried expression worsen. 

“Sure you’re okay?” he asked, brushing a thin strand of hair from his eyes behind his ear. “You seem pretty out of it.” Stephen merely nodded, running his hand through his tangled hair. 

His heart sounded from his chest, beating against his ribs (which were still sore). The feet pounding along the floor pulsed their movement through his throbbing head, making him dizzy. 

His dry hands on the leather wheel felt so… real. Unsure of why, he thought back to the feeling of the sand beneath his toes in the “real world”, or the air rushing past his fingertips. 

Suddenly, as he stood at the wheel, his grasp on the previous world began to fade, along with the odd void with the little girl. The image haunting his mind of the last morning was merely the unwanted fear of a night terror.  _ Fuck…?  _ Asked his mind. 

Hosuh was still staring at him worriedly as he began driving slowly down the track. “What happened to you? You’re acting strangely.” Stephen nodded, trying to focus on driving the metal death machine. 

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Stephen assured the other absentmindedly when he realised Hosuh wasn’t turning back to look out the window. Blue eyes still penetrated the back of his head. “I swear to god!” Stephen cried, turning around for a moment. 

Hosuh sighed, taken aback but not surprised. “Alright then.” he turned away, back to the door. “I’ll check on the passengers, call for me if you feel like talking.” metal screeched as he opened the door and left without another word. 

The silence that ensued was shrouding, suffocating. Regretting his outburst, Stephen opened his mouth slightly, willing himself to call for Hosuh to apologise. He shut it. 

About a few minutes later, Hosuh strolled back in cooly. He said nothing and sat back in the chair to sleep. Just as the taller boy closed his eyes, Stephen whispered a quick,  _ “I’m sorry.”  _ expecting no response, he turned his attention back to the tracks. 

As if the wind were speaking, Hosuh responded with a short,  _ “thanks.”  _ before falling asleep. The next half hour was just as quiet, though far less tense. Inky darkness crept around the edges of his vision, slowly seeping into the large window in front of him.

\------------

The sky was tinted pink by the time Hosuh was leaning over Stephen’s shoulder, breathing down the other’s neck. He stared down at Stephen’s hands as they slipped up hundreds of times. 

Panic set into Stephen’s bones as the two came across a city. A group of about five workers was on the track in front of them. Hosuh straightened cooly. “I’ll call the station here, we should be coming up on it. Stop the engine quickly.” 

Hosuh took barely a moment to call up the station, just to hear ringing. He hummed in confusion. Stephen took a few moments to locate the brake and pressed his foot into it lightly. Nothing happened. He pushed down further, ramming into it. 

The trolly continued to speed forwards. Panic jumped into Hosuh's eyes, gleaning over them with clear ice. The window opened quickly. “Get off the track!” he cried to the workers, who couldn’t hear. 

“Are there any other tracks?” Stephen asked, barely keeping his voice level. Hosuh nodded, his breathing leveling out. 

“Let’s just go down that one and figure out the brakes.” Stephen nodded, turning to pull the lever to the right. Hosuh's eyes widened once again. 

“Wait! Wait, Stephen, there’s a worker there too.” sure enough, along that track was a younger man, around Stephen and Ho suh's age, laying down wood and hammering it loudly. The sound vibrated through Stephen’s mind. 

“We don’t have much of a choice.” Stephen responded, words hitching along his throat. Hosuh stared wildly at him. 

“You’re going to  _ kill  _ someone!” he exclaimed. Realisation fell upon his face. “Or five someones…” he added in a mutter. Stephen nodded solemnly. “ _ We _ ’ll be killing someone, doesn’t that matter?” 

“Of course,” Stephen responded slowly. “but what’s the other option? Let five people die?” Hosuh nodded, looking up and closing his eyes. 

“Pull the lever.” 

\------------

Stephen woke up what felt like hours later. Light danced atop his eyelids, meaning night had already come and past. The soreness from earlier did not dwindle, more increase. 

A weight fell upon his shoulders, warmth seeping through his jacket. He realised someone was shaking him. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing bright blue eyes that were crinkled at the edges in a laugh. 

“Wake up, sleepyhead, your shift is starting.” Hosuh told him, dragging him to a standing position by his arm. 

A green haired boy looked disapprovingly at Stephen’s slouched form. “Goddamnit, Stephen, stop sleeping on your break, I don’t feel like being sued any time soon.” 

He was crazy, he had to be, Daniel was part of his  _ dream _ . He was a fictional being created by his imagination. Thinking back to the trolley, it felt like a dream. This felt real, but that felt real.  _ Fuck, fuckity, fuckity, fuck.  _

“Get a move on, Jay’s waiting for you.” Daniel told him, shoving him lightly towards the door of what appeared to be a break room. For a moment, Stephen could have sworn he forgot how to walk.  _ One foot in front of the other _ . He told himself, trying his damn hardest to follow his own advice. 

Just as he exited the smaller room, closing the door separating himself from his source of familiarity, an alarm fell. The sound buzzed in his ears, filling up his senses. Something was wrong, very wrong.

_ fuck! _


	7. How Cheerful Memories Turn To Acidic Futures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not know anything about hospitals! this chapter was hard to write, but a blast. hope you get the references. also... I've officially given up on any kind of structure for my updates.

Panic seeped into his chest, racing through his bones like cold fire. Hosuh raced out of the room, catching up to Stephen and dragging him along the hallway leading out to the right. 

“Come on, those things are harmless, really.” Hosuh assured him. “Anyways, it’s Dan and Jay’s job this time.” He smiled cheerily, his coolness contagious.

The two trekked down the hallway, Stephen’s initial panic subsiding. He wondered for a moment if it was worth asking Hosuh what the alarm meant, he didn’t know, afterall.  _ I’m probably supposed to understand by now.  _

Hosuh hummed in thought, looking around at the doors. “You probably forgot to check your call, didn’t you?” Hosuh asked, Stephen nodded absentmindedly. Hosuh, however, didn’t seem to notice. 

“Where are we supposed to go, then?” Stephen asked after a beat or two of silence. 

Hosuh hummed again. “My notice said to bring you down to 104.” he was quiet for another moment. “Honestly, they never have anybody, I’ll probably be kept around.” 

The rest of the walk was silent, well, except for the usual sounds emanating from the walls around them. A few other works roamed the hallways, smiling and waving at Stephen and Hosuh. 

“Ah, you two.” a pink haired girl smiled, saying a quick goodbye to a bluenette she’d been walking with. She bounced over to them. “Shift starting soon?” 

“How do you manage this?” Hosuh asked in mock exhasberation. “Would you like us to be fired?” 

“I could just fire you, you know?” Ann retorted, her own tone fake. “I outrank you, afterall.” she gave an exaggerated wink at Stephen, who chuckled sincerely. 

“Outrank us.” Hosuh responded sarcastically. “By what, negatives?” the other two laughed. 

“Ex-ca-use me!” Ann responded. “It’s negative, singular, get it right, Hosuh.” they all laughed again. 

Hosuh looked back down at his watch, tutting quietly. “We should get going, our shift starts in a minute.” Ann nodded, giving a quick wave and running after the bluenette. 

It only took another few moments for Hosuh to cross over behind Stephen and open a door. He grabbed Stephen’s wrist and pulled him inside. The room was large, with chairs along the sides, a heavy white door at the other end, and a desk with a smiling ebony. 

The same feeling from the island, like he was supposed to know the man in front of them. “Ah, morning.” he told them, standing quickly. “I need to head out, I’ve been called to the alarm, man the desk, will ya?” 

“Sure thing, Joe.” Hosuh agreed, plopping down into the chair Joe had been sitting in. as if a light had gone off in his mind, or a dragon awakening from a hundred year sleep, the little voice returned. 

_ “Afternoon, Stephen.”  _ it said, Stepen could tell it was grinning brightly, but any picture he had of it was blurry.  _ “Be on your toes.”  _ just like that, it disappeared again. 

Cautiously, Stephen went to sit on the desk, unsure of himself. Whatever the voice meant, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. The ceiling was white, as well, with a popcorn like pattern he followed with his eyes, tracing each shape and imagining the whole thing were a portrait he just couldn’t understand. 

A short “humm” came from Hosuh, who had followed Stephen’s gaze. “Yesterday I found a duck up there, can’t see it today though.” He murmured. “Didn’t you find that rose a week ago? I swear, that one was on purpose.” 

_ “It’s like looking at clouds, like a picnic.”  _ the voice informed him unhelpfully, Stephen flushed slightly. It stopped for a moment, as if it had realised something worry some.  _ “Kid, where’s your bag? The black one, indestructible, you know what I mean.”  _

“Wha…?” Stephen muttered, Hosuh looked over at him.  _ “Ask him.”  _ deciding that, though creepy, the voice was yet to fail him, Stephen asked. “Have you seen my bag?” 

Hosuh's eyes widened slightly, pointing upwards at the ceiling. “I think you left it in here, actually.” he spoke softly, as if he wasn’t sure. Suddenly, he slipped ungracefully off the chair and hid under the desk for a moment. 

“Hosuh?” Stephen asked hesitantly. There was a beat of silence, before Hosuh jumped back out, like a diver breaking the surface of a calm ocean. He thrust the bag at Stephen with a Homura Akemi-approved hair flip. They both laughed. 

“I am Free!” Hosuh cried jokingly. He doubled over, a hand over his mouth. Stephen weezed out a few more laughs. “God, how long has it been since I made you watch that?” 

“Months.” Stephen replied without thinking. The voice sighed. “...maybe not.” he added, noting Ho suh's unsure glance. 

“Has it really been that long? I don’t think so.” Hosuh responded, ignoring Stephen last comment. “Maybe weeks, but not months.” Hosuh's eyes lit up. “Or, did you just say that as a cop out so I’ll make you watch it with me again?” 

Stephen laughed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “You caught me.” he forced another laugh. Hosuh's excited expression morphed into one of concern. 

“Are you alright? You’re acting… strangely?” Hosuh asked him, unsure. Stephen paused for a second, the voice groaning quietly. Just as he was about to respond in some useless flap of his mouth, when the doors shot open and six people were wheeled inside. Panic bubbled in Stephens chest. 

Hosuh shot up, leaping over the desk to wheel the helpless forms into another room to the side of the door. Stephen’s heart pounded, threatening to burst out of his chest. 

“Help me, here.” Hosuh called, fear edging around his voice, searpants circling their prey. After just a moment of Stephen, stock still with panic, not having responded, Hosuh ran back in. He grabbed the other’s wrist. 

“You can’t help all of them, honestly.” the ambulance worker mentioned as they slipped out of the door. Hosuh froze for just a moment, before turning around to Stephen and saying, 

“Come on, they have a point, let’s help the five, only one casulty.” Hosuh spoke slowly, pushing his panic to the bottom of his chest. 

“Couldn’t one of us help the five, the other the one?” Stephen asked, not worrying if his voice was calm. 

“No, that… that wouldn’t work. The one would still die, and only two or three would live. Come on.” so, he followed, placing one foot after the other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for any who wonder, yes, I adore Madoka Magica, no, I do not watch Free! should I?


	8. How Morality Makes Us Strangers In A Strange World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's sick and had no ideas! (Hint, it's Res). Sorry the chapter's a bit short, and late, I really had no ideas of what to do. Hope you still enjoy, though!

The metal of the front doors felt cold beneath the boys finger tips. It chilled his palms; cold lightning crackling down the bones of his arm. Hosuh surely noticed, as he grabbed Stephens other hand in his. The other’s hand was warm, diluting the cold icicles branching through his body. 

“Come on, the trolley will get to our station in a few minutes.” Hosuh reminded him lightly, urging him onwards. The sky was congested with greying clouds, darkening the grassy area below it. Rays of blue shone through for only moments at a time before another cloud would cover it. 

The Trolley station was a few blocks from the looming hospital. It was plain, with a slightly rusted sign shooting up from the dry, cracking dirt. It sported a peeling picture of a trolley car resembling that of computer clip-art. There was also a bug-bitten bench mirroring the condition of the sign. 

Looking down at his watch, Hosuh explained, “The next car should be here in two minutes. If it isn’t late, that is.” he added. Stephen nodded, still quite shell-shocked. 

It seemed, to him at least, that this reality and the latest dream were correlated. They both seemed to resonate with the voice similarly at least. Like they’d come from the same basic idea. 

A run down trolley chugged up the beaten hill towards the two. The driver was a smiling older man with a cheery look in his eyes neither boy could match. 

They boarded silently, taking seats by the front windows. Quiet piano music filtered through speakers at the front and back of the cabin; lullabies in their own right. Stephen, in his exhausted state, felt himself lulled to sleep by the calming rush from the green fields racing by outside.

\------------

His eyelids fluttered open to the inside of the trolley, jerking him upwards. The leather covering of the dashboard, faux or not, burned lightly in his hands. The track diverged in front of him, winding away to where a younger worker was hammering away at the track. 

The voice was back quicker than ever before.  _ “You know exactly where you are.”  _ It told him.  _ “Pull the damn lever, get this over with.”  _ it added. 

Just as he was about to tug at the lever to his right he noticed a purple glint in the one workers hair. Silver whisps blew around it in the wind. Hosuh's blue eyes shone contently. 

He faltered, not bringing himself to push his arm further, moving the car. How the fuck could he? Through each dream, each reality, no matter how alone he was, Hosuh was always standing there next to him. 

He couldn’t help but picture the greening, sickening skin from the first dream. He couldn’t help but remember the elation in his chest when the little girl mentioned the other, or when he was standing there next to him on the first trolley.

Slowly, like a snail inching across a wooden sugar box, he pulled his hand away from the lever; leaving it shaking in front of him. His bright eyes shut instantly, refusing to watch the decision fold out.

A crash sounded around him, filling his senses with panic and the splintering smell of iron. 

\------------

The little girl appeared in front of him. Her lighter brown hair was pulled up on her hair in two buns. “Purple!” she cried excitedly, appearing in front of him. She bounced excitedly on her toes. “Mama told me not to talk to strangers, are you a stranger?” 

“I-I don’t think so.” Stephen stammered in response. “And my name isn’t Purple, it’s Stephen.” 

The girls eyes widened in amazement. “Mama told me strangers never give out their real names, you mustn’t be a stranger! Strangers call me Brownie, but you must call me Charlotte.” 

“A-alright.” 

“Silver still hasn’t told me his real name, I-I guess he must be a stranger.” She added, moving to sit down in the inky whiteness. Just as she did, a scenery exploded around her. 

Fields grew up to meet brilliantly blue skies, the colour of Hosuh's eyes. A river stretched out below them, a wooden footbridge arching up like a cat’s back.

She continued smiling. “Silver must be awake by now. Mama says he is, at least.” Stephen nodded slowly. “Would you like to talk to him?” Stephen nodded slowly, wanting to believe she was telling the truth. 

Suddenly, Charlotte's form disappeared from the bridge, her sweet voice carried off into the wind blowing the few fluffy, white clouds. 

“Stephen? What are you doing here?” asked a familiar voice. Whirling around frantically, he saw Hosuh on the field barely a yard away. “I… I thought you went back home on that boat.” 

“What boat?” Questioned Stephen instantly. “Last thing I remember, I was driving a trolley, you--you were on the tracks.” 

Hosuh tilted his head to the side, thinking. Realisation crossed his expression, a fire burning in the ice of his eyes. “Let me guess, there were five people on one track, one on the other? You couldn’t break?” at Stephen’s nod, Hosuh sighed. “That’s the Harvard Trolley Car Experiment. It’s an ethical dilemma; do you decrease the casualties, or keep blood off your hands?” 

“That--that wasn’t all,” 

“You knew the person on the other track? That’s an addition some people have added for extra difficulty.” Hosuh finished, already knowing the answer. Stephen merely nodded. “My one question, what did you choose? I’d guess that whatever entity placed you in that situation would pick the person you--in that moment--couldn’t live without most.” 

Stephen took a moment to answer. “I… I chose you.”


	9. How Knowledge may lead to an overflow of people

Hosuh took a moment to respond, certainly taken aback by the answer. “Me?” He asked, confused for just a moment. Realisation dawned on his face. “My god! That’s it. That’s why you were in the trolley, that’s why we were on the island, or course!” 

“Of course what?” Stephen asked in response, straightening up slightly. 

Just as Hosuh opened his mouth to answer, a booming voice arose from somewhere in the distance. “Oh, Madam Ruby must be calling a meeting.” His eyes turned down in a small frown, the corners of his lips following. “You should really go, Madam Ruby doesn’t like outsiders much.” He smiled to himself. “Brownie doesn’t even realise how much she risks helping you out. Goodbye.” With that, the comforting world disappeared around him, including Hosuh. 

\------------

Stephen was leaning against the wall of the bunker. It had been almost fifteen worlds at this point since he’d first spoken to Hosuh directly in the mid-realm, as he began calling it. 

Said silver-haired boy was currently asleep on his shoulder, content. Strands of silver tickled the other’s neck, but he ignored it. His focus was, instead, on a diary in front of him. 

_ World… 5 at this point? _

_ Hosuh gave me this notebook in the latest… mid-realm, I guess. Told me to write everything down from each main world. He apologized for disappearing the previous time, ‘Madam Ruby’ as he called her, had elected yet another officer. I think she’s caught the three (maybe four, Charlotte’s Mother might be part of this) of us. _

_ World 15 _

_ I think I’m starting to see how this all works. The satchel, and everything inside of it, are the only other things besides me that move between worlds. Even my outfits change. I have memories of the other worlds, but they all seem blurry. Kinda like the image of nightmares the morning after you have them. I leave as soon as I go to sleep after the ‘task’ of each world is completed. Tasks seem to vary, usually having something to do with Hosuh. There are recurring  _ _ characters, mainly Jay(kinda), Daniel, Hosuh, and Anne. unlike the others, Hosuh seems to find a way into every single world. Not to mention, the only one that shows up in both the mid-realms, and full worlds. Though, I might have heard Charlotte mention a Green, now that I think about it.  _

_ I haven’t died yet, though the recurring characters die a lot. I have no idea what would happen if I did. Honestly, probably nothing good.  _

_ _

Just as is hand groggily dragged the ever-sharp pencil (Hosuh’s other gift) and diary into the satchel, he fell asleep.

_ _

\------------

_ _

Stephen awoke once again with a jolt. Cold metal dug into his wrists. As he tried to stand up, he realised that his wrists and ankles were bound by metal disks to a metal chair. 

_ _

Beside him, with panic set in his eyes, was Hosuh. The other looked around wildly, staring at two others across from himself. The first was a taller boy, around Stephen’s age, with curly, dark hair. The other was… a fucking turtle? Honestly, Stephen reasoned, weirder shit has happened in these worlds. 

_ _

Just as he was about to accept that this world was most definitely going to suck, the television screen burst to life. Daniel appeared on it, smirking evilly. This time, however, his cheeks had red swirls painted onto them. As Stephen noticed this, he also realised that Daniel wasn’t human, like usual (actually, he’d been more of a genie in a few worlds). Instead, his mouth was odd and his skin wasn’t skin, but wood. He was a puppet. 

_ _

The sound was filled with static, yet all four could clearly hear what the puppet was saying. “We’re going to play a game. So many people aren’t grateful to be alive.” suddenly, the image became that of a cartoon. Daniel’s smile became less sinister, and more cheerful. “Only one of you will make it out of here, but try your best, work together, and we’ll see what happens.” 

_ _

In a moment of mere annoyance, (and knowing how these worlds worked) Stephen responded with a loud. “Don’t tell me what to do, Daniel!”

Hosuh snickered lightly to himself. “This one of the least terrifying Jigsaws I’ve ever seen.” He joked. 

“All he needs is a Hello Kitty hoodie or something.” Added the turtle helpfully. “Or really, most cartoon characters.” 

“Do what you want, kids.” instructed the tall stranger, somehow keeping a straight face. 

“What do you mean!?” complained a frustrated Jigsaw-Daniel. “You’re all gonna die!” He sighed loudly, but a grin soon returned to his face. “All right then, I’ll tell you a riddle. If you never solve it, you’ll be stuck in here forever.” 

“Oh, alright.” Retorted the purple haired boy.

“Recently, there has been illegal oil smuggling. While investigating, police found the number 710 5735 34 5508 51 7718. There are three suspects; Bill, John, and Tod. Who did it?” 

“Oh, Bill.” Answered the taller stranger. If you flip the numbers upside down, it says “Bill is boss… He sells oil.”

“Uh.” Daniel responded, dumbstruck at how quickly the question was answered. “How?” he questioned.

“I answer riddles in my spare time.” The stranger said. Hosuh and the turtle chuckled, obviously not as worried as they probably should be. Anyways, they’re figments of Stephen’s imagination, so that does make sense. 

Daniel sighed again, louder and even more frustrated. “Whatever.” He complained, snapping his fingers. The metal holding down the four slid back into the chairs. 

Stephen was the first to stand up as the image on the screen fizzled back into blackness. The turtle followed, then Hosuh and the other stranger. “I’m Maaz, by the way.” mentioned the last one. 

“Oh… we’re giving out names?” questioned Hosuh. “Alright, I guess, I’m Hosuh. That’s Stephen.”

“I don’t even get to give out my own name!?” 

The others laughed again, turning to the shortest. “Oh, yeah, I’m Turtle Amigo.” The others look at him funny. 

“Your name is Turtle Amigo… and you’re a humanoid turtle?” ah, so it would be Maaz to ask. “I get the existence of humanoid turtles… but your first name is Turtle?” 

“Yes, is there a problem?” the other snapped.

That seemed to be where Hosuh decided to step in. “of course not. Let’s keep going.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riddle (and plenty of the jigsaw dialog, for that matter) are not mine, they come straight from the video.


	10. How escape may just be futile in just the wronge way

The four came across two more doors on the opposite wall from the television. The first had a few nick marks in; as well, there was a sign at the top. Though it was dirty, slightly blurred, you could tell that is said “Ten Midgets With knives.” 

On the other hand, the right door was crisp, clean. The sign matched; “Starving assassin, hasn’t eaten in weeks.” Was lettered across it. 

“Any ideas?” Hosuh asked, running his finger across the nicks in the left door. “Either could probably kill us.” Turtle laughed. 

“We can tell.” 

Maaz hummed slightly to himself, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Maybe the four of us would be able to fend off the midgets?” Hosuh shook his head worriedly, dragging silver locks wildly through the air. 

“We don’t have any weapons.” He explained. “Having said that, the assassin is trained; certainly stronger than the four of us combined.”

The voice chuckled to itself.  _ “The lot of you have to think about this? When your body doesn’t get enough food, it starts eating it’s fat… then muscles.”  _ As Stephen was about to open his mouth, the voice sighed loudly.  _ “Moron! What are you doing? If you just ‘come up’ with this, they’ll figure you out. Act like it’s obvious, which it is but alright…”  _

“That’s it!” Stephen exclaimed. “That’s the whole riddle! We should go to the assassins door.” Daniel reappeared on the screen. “The assassins been starving for  _ weeks _ , right?” 

“The assassin’s been starved, yes, he’ll eat you all as soon as you step foot in the room.” 

“Oh!” Hosuh cried, understanding what Stephen meant. Turtled looked at him funny “He’s starving! I’d be surprised if he were even still alive in there.” Maaz and Turtle sighed to themselves in agreement. 

“Fine, fine.” Daniel groaned, waving his hand vaguely in the direction of the right door, which swung open. On the ground directly inside the doorframe, lay a crumpled figure of a man. 

He was beyond counting ribs, far beyond. The once-emerald of his eyes was glazed over in a faraway look. “You disgust me.” Spat the purple haired boy at the television on the far end. Daniel shrugged, smirking. 

“Yeah, yeah, motherfudger.” 

On the far wall, just below the large screen, stood a door just the same as the one they’d just walked through. Maaz, apparently the bravest of the four, walked ahead. As all four were just at the door, Hosuh clutched Stephen’s hand in his own, terror filling his blue eyes. 

The door clicked open, revealing an… empty hallway? It stretched on for just a few yards, opening back out into a larger room with a table. Turtle, this time, was the first to step inside. Maaz, then Stephen and Hosuh, followed suit. 

They were all about halfway through the hallway, Hosuh having begun wringing his hands, when a sinking feeling began suddenly in Stephen stomach. Just as quickly as it had come, his leg slammed against something metal, suspending the rest of his body in a low ditch. 

“The next challenge.” Daniel began from somewhere behind the other. “Is for you, Stephen.” Stephen kicked, thrashing around the tiny compartment. All he managed to do, however, was slam his head against a lever. 

_ “Don’t you just love those.”  _ chuckled the voice sarcastically.

“If you pull the lever,” Daniel continued, ignoring the protests now arising violently from Hosuh, and a few from Maaz and Turtle. “You’ll… depart from your leg; but, if you don’t,” he began chuckling, smirking the way the voice always seemed to. “One of your dear friends will die. What will it be.” 

Stephen stopped thrashing, chest heaving slowly. He wanted to vomit, scream, cry. If he did, he’d die of blood loss, surely. If he didn’t, Hosuh might be killed. Some part of himself, not his mind or even the voice, knew this was that world’s task. Survive, maybe kill Hosuh, move on and see what Charlotte was gonna talk about. 

_ Will it inherently be Hosuh?  _ He asked the voice, hoping it would be willing to help. A chuckled reverberated around his head. 

_ “Oh, darling, it’s like you’ve never met yourself. Of  _ course  _ it’ll be Hosuh! Why on earth would you consider an easy way out of this. Maaz and Turtle will survive, Hosuh will not, simple.”  _

He didn’t want to; common sense told him not to; but he pulled his hand up towards the lever with one final, “fuck you.” whispered to no one in particular. 

He was certain he could hear Hosuh scream, “Stephen, no!” As the world slowly faded to white. He could vaguely feel his body hit the ground, listening to mechanisms whirring and pulling Hosuh back up to relative safety. 

* * *

All that Stephen could tell when he came to was that there was a beeping in his ear. It was constant, a heartbeat, but thankfully remotely quieter then some of the noises he’d encountered on his… travels. 

He opened his eyes to see a white ceiling. Someone stirred from the corner of his eye. “Stephen?” questioned Daniel. “A-are you awake?” He seemed afraid, that wasn’t a good sign. 

“Dan?” responded the other groggily, sitting up with a groan. He was sore; so, so very sore. A pulsing, constant pain pumped from somewhere around his elbow, creasing his eyes into a grimace. 

The room around the two was otherwise empty, with clean, beige walls. Dan was curled up in a chair pulled against the bed. A curtain was pulled up directly behind a set of machines. 

He was in a hospital.

“I should call the doctor.” Dan muttered, straightening his legs down to the floor robotically. He pressed a larger, red button on the nightstand. “How- how are you?” 

“I-I’m alright.” Stephen answered. Daniel seemed so much… realer? Far more human. Stephen began looking for the signature signs of a world, blurry lines when you squint, that constant dissociated feeling. 

Nothing. He came up with nothing. This wasn’t a dream, he still couldn't remember anything, he should remember something, surely? He could barely tell that he was vomiting, only tasting the bile at the back of his throat, and the sour taste in his mouth. This… this couldn’t possibly be another dream.

The voice was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord now, https://discord.gg/FEDKZZ!


	11. How The Resting May Leave Such A Safety Of Webbing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A word of caution to those with a fear of spiders! There are many references to them and their webs in this chapter (such as the title).

Stephen’s chest still heaving silently. “D-do you remember… anything?” Daniel questioned; Stephen shook his head, before looking upwards to the ceiling.

“There… there were these dreams. You, Hosuh, someone named Jay, and another named Anne, mostly.” Daniel’s eyes widened. “Well,” Stephen added, breathing slowly returning to normal. “I know facts… just not memories; or people.” Daniel nodded glumly. 

“Well; last I knew, Anne has been staying over on the couch of our apartment. I’ve… I’ve been here for the most part.” he sighed to himself. “I’ve had to leave for class and such, but that’s about it.” he went silent. 

Stephen realised instantly he didn’t hear one name. “What… what about… Hosuh?” Daniel looked away, but Stephen could tell he was crying. 

Finally, Daniel opened his mouth. “He… he’s still out cold. Doctors don’t know when he’ll wake up.” The voice might as well have been back, scraping at his mind.  _ “How dare you think you can cry? You barely remember him!”  _ Even so, the hot tears began trickling like acid down his cheeks. 

Stephen looked around his bed, trying to distract himself with something. Anything, honestly. He was so used to hearing the voice in the back of his mind, it was almost like it was still there, whispering in his ear.  _ “Where’s your bag?”  _ The bag itself didn’t seem to exist. 

“Why… why am I here?” Stephen asked finally, lying back down on the bed. Daniel sighed loudly, but he seemed relieved that the tense moments of silence were over. 

“Car accident.” Daniel responded, going silent again, another tear trickling down his face. “You and Hosuh… You were going to the supermarket… Damn, Jay and I… We were sitting around, making excuses.” the green haired boy buried his head in his hands, sobbing quietly. “If only we weren’t so fucking lazy.” 

The nurse came in shortly after, telling Daniel that he was going to have to leave, now that Stephen was awake and all. With a tearful goodbye, the boy left quickly. 

Stephen asked the nurse who was behind the curtain, she merely said something vague, along the lines of. “That doesn’t matter right now, you should sleep.” before writing some things down on her clipboard, giving Stephen a sad smile, and leaving through the door. 

Darkness crept through the small window above his bed before he’d even had the energy to stand up and move around the small space. It took far, far too long to fall asleep that night. 

* * *

Charlotte fell into his arms as soon as he appeared in the grassy field. Her usually updone hair was a scrambled mess sitting on her shoulders. She was crying, crying, and crying. “Silver hasn’t come out of his house all day!” she cried. 

She was still sobbing when Stephen tried to question her. “What’s wrong? Are you alright? What happened to… Silver.” 

Tears still poured down her cheeks, but the sobbing had turned into mere hiccups that racketed her entire, small body. “Si-Silver never came out of his house today… you… you never came! I just… I don’t know what to do! Madam Ruby will close the barrier for good! You’ll never come back… I’ll,” another sob racketted her body. “I’ll be alone!” 

Figuring, if she were talking, she wouldn’t be crying as much, Stephen asked, “what barrier?” 

Charlotte smiled ever so slightly to herself at that, getting wet, salty tears in her mouth. “The barrier stops outsiders from coming in. I overheard Silver and Mama talking about someone Silver kept calling Purple. Which I now know is you.” she wasn’t crying anymore, but her nose was still running. Wiping her long, soft sleeve across her face, she continued. “I decided to ask Et Unum Solum to let you in. She was…” Charlotte laughed. 

Suddenly. A crackling came from behind them. “Charlotte, what are you doing here?” Stephen turned around to see a tall woman with a shadow for her long, flowing locs. Her body seemed to be woven out of circlets of sticks, tied together with crisscrosses of string. Beads dotted around her body, mirroring those filling up her eye sockets in their brilliant, velvety darkness. 

“Oh my!” she cried, creaking as she raced over to Stephen. “I’m Velveteen.” At Stephen’s confused stare, she explained, “I’m a dreamweaver, or catcher. Plenty of cultures call me different things.”

“Mama!” Charlotte cried, appearing beside the woman. “I didn’t think you came to the River Field.” she looked around herself. “No one rests here, Mama, who are you visiting?” 

Velveteen smiled contently to herself. “Why don’t you go play with Melody? She must be quite lonely with Papa on his trip. I want to speak to Purple myself.” Charlotte nodded, skipping away.

“You’re a dreamweaver? This is… River Field?” Stephen asked, unsure of what any of this could mean. 

“Yes, yes I am, we all are.” Velveteen smiled to herself. “Our job is to create dreams.” she explained. “Mine, however, is to protect the resting from Parasitus like Somnum exterreri.” 

“The resting? Parasitus? Somnum Exterreri?” 

Velveteen chuckled to herself. “Oh, right; the resting just means asleep, comatose, dead, etc. the others are latin for Parasite and night mare.” Stephen nodded to himself. “We… we can’t protect each other, though.” her beady eyes stared off into the distance. “Even I can’t get to Hosuh right now.” she turned back to Stephen, fixing him with her gaze. As she did so, string webbing ebbed from the top and bottom of the beads, spinning her eyes into dream catchers. “You need to get him out of here.” 

* * *

Stephen sat up to darkness surrounding, choking him. His chest heaved. Thoughts swam through his head, spinning like Veleveteen’s eyes. At the thought of her, he imagined her figure once again, beginning to see the more spider-like and spindly aspects of her appearance. Bile rose in his throat once again. He reached for the glass of water that he vaguely recalled being on his desk. 

The clock hanging from the wall read some time barely after five in the morning. Part of him thought he could hear whoever was behind the curtain stir, but he wasn’t quite sure. 

He lay back, staring up at the popcorn ceiling above him. He didn’t want to fall back asleep; not wanting to see Velveteen. He waited for an hour like that, unable to do much else. 

A nurse walked in at six in the morning. “Oh, you must be Stephen, I’ve never properly met you.” she said, dirty blonde bob dancing across her shoulders. She held out her hand for the other to shake; which he did, though hesitantly.

For the following five minutes, Stephen decided that she was far more laid back then the woman from yesterday. “Who- who is behind the curtain?” the nurse hummed to herself, looking over. 

“Oh, what a tragedy, he hasn’t woken up yet.” she explained unhelpfully. “Poor thing, he’s only twenty four.” when she looked back at Stephen’s confused glance, she slapped her face with her palm lightly. “Right, the patient’s name is Hosuh Lee.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Youtube: how shall we mess with Res today, I wonder  
Youtube: *comes up with the most depressing playlist possible*


	12. How to smile through the acid on our cheeks

It was one week later that Stephen was discharged, sitting silently in the passenger’s seat of Daniel’s car. The green haired boy stared stone-cold at the road, knuckles white against the steering wheel. “How- how are you?” he inquired, voice just barely cracking. 

“I’m… I’m not really certain.” Answered the other truthfully. “I- I think I just want to… to understand.” Stephen sighed. “Nevermind. I’m… I don’t know.” 

Stephen couldn’t tell if his response made Dan feel any better, or worse. The green haired boy’s expression didn’t change; lips parting only slightly, as if willing himself to speak. After yet another sigh, he explained. “The doctor started talking to me a lot…” Dan sighed again. “I think, at least, to stop me from trying to talk to you or Hosuh.” He stopped himself, turning the car down a side street. “They told me that the both of you were dreaming vividly the entire time. They believe that you only woke up because you died in the dream.” 

Stephen’s breath quickened for just one beat. He tried to focus on the quaint, suburban houses the car drove by. “I… I remember that.” He responded, realising Daniel was probably awaiting a reply. 

The car turned down into one of the shared driveways, parking in the leftmore spot. The engine revved down quickly and Daniel turned to open the door hesitantly. Stephen followed suit, strolling uncertainly to keep up with Daniel, who knew what he was doing. 

The door opened with a creak, leading into a smaller room with a variety of books littering the floor. Daniel sighed again, turning to an archway leading to the kitchen. “It’s late, I’ll make some dinner. You probably don’t want to bother Jay right now.”

Stephen nodded, looking around the new space. Dan seemed pretty at home, with the way he kicked his shoes in the vague direction of besides the door, and how he didn’t seem to worry too much about stepping on the books.  _ I just want to sleep in a not-hospital bed.  _ He complained to himself, trying to decipher which door will lead to his bedroom. 

The first one he tried was just a bathroom; but the other lead into a hallway with four doors. The leftmost door was ajar, with  _ Daniel _ written in sloppy handwriting on a paper sign. The door directly in front of him was shut tightly,  _ Jay _ carved out on a wooden sign nailed into it. The one sitting at the end of the hallway was painted with an oceanic scene. It must have taken hours to complete; sun kissed white beaches blending almost seamlessly into a baby blue waters graduating into navy depths.  _ Hosuh  _ was swirled in sloppy, but strangely beautiful font across the bright sky. 

By process of elimination, the last door, which was completely devoid of decoration, must lead to Stephen’s room. It opened silently, revealing a smaller room. A bed sat in the corner, facing a door directly to the side of a nightstand with a clock and a few books. A dresser stood barely out of the doorway. 

He sat down on the bed with a confused sigh. He noticed the floor, like the others in the house, was a lighter hardwood, but this one had a red carpet in the shape of a human figure lying on his side. A chuckle escaped his lips, accompanied by a small smile. 

Honestly, he turned to his side, expecting to see the comfort of familiar baby blue eyes. Of course, Hosuh was nowhere to be seen. A tear slid down his cheek, then another. His mind didn’t even register that he was crying until the door opened again. 

It wasn’t Daniel this time, but a blonde. Another sob escaped the boy as he expected the little voice to tell him who the man was; but, of course, none came. The blonde was hugging him, crying as well. 

“I missed you.” He said. At the sound of his voice, Stephen realised this was Jay, the fourth (and least frequent) regular. Even at the realisation, he didn’t know what to say to the other. 

Jay stood back up, staring over at a door Stephen hadn’t noticed before. The door was slightly ajar, revealing a bathroom. “I… I’m sorry.” He choked out, eyes glossy. 

“Don’t be.” Stephen replied slowly, unsure of how to react.  _ Did he really mean it? _ He wondered for just a moment. Daniel mentioned why he and Hosuh had been in the car.  _ Wouldn’t that make this even just slightly Jay’s fault? _

_ No, of course not _ , He reasoned. Jay and Daniel being lazy wasn’t reason enough to blame them for anything. Jay just started sobbing. “I’m sorry.” He repeated.

* * *

It took Stephen quite a while to fall asleep that night. He was exhausted, sure, but his mind kept clinging and jumping between thoughts and ideas far too quickly. He wanted to vomit again. Not to mention, Daniel and Jay’s voices filtered in from the hallway just outside. 

Jay sounded frustrated; frustrated and angry. “You have to be  _ fucking _ kidding me! You’re absolutely insane.” 

Daniel sighed loudly. “It’s a movie, asshole, how much damage could it possibly do? He just needs something familiar. What’s more familiar than his favorite movie?”

“Can you hear yourself?” exclaimed Jay. “That’s ridiculous. Who knows how damn violent the dreams got? You’ll certainly remind him of  _ something _ , do you fucking want that?” 

Daniel groaned, exasperated. “Honestly, Jay, that won’t happen. You’re far too concerned about  _ literally everything _ .” 

“I’m not having this conversation. We’re not watching it, that’s final.” His footsteps travelled to his door and slammed it shut. Daniel groaned again, walking down the hallway to his room. 

When sunlight began glaring into the room from the large window next to the bathroom door, Stephen truly couldn’t say if he’d ever actually fallen asleep. A knock came shortly after; accompanied by a soft “Good morning, Stephen.” From Jay. 

The door opened slowly, getting caught shortly on the foot of the rug by the doorway. “I’m heading out for class,” He seemed like he was about to continue, but just added a quick. “See you this afternoon.” 

About half an hour later, Stephen was drawn from the quietness accompanied by watching the sun begin to peak over the tops of a few bushes behind the house. A sizzling sort of sound accompanied by the smell of eggs and bacon came from the kitchen. 

As he walked into the living room, Dan was walking in from the kitchen; a smile ever-so-slightly pulling on his lips. “I thought I’d make breakfast.” He explained simply, placing two plates on the coffee table. “Jay doesn’t agree with me, but I think we should watch one of your favorite movies. It’s pretty violent, but,” Dan didn’t continue, seeing Stephen’s eyes light up at the idea of something he had liked. 

“Let’s watch it.” With that, Daniel plopped down on the sofa and grabbed the remote. 


	13. How Spotlight May Be Our Solution

It was a week after Stephen returned home that Daniel was willing to return to the hospital for Hosuh. “Honestly, Daniel? You’re just gonna up and leave again?” questioned Jay cooly. He certainly wasn’t as frustrated with Dan as he’d been when Stephen first returned; though the exasperation was clear. 

“I… I’ll come with you. Even just for a day.” Stephen agreed after a breath. Jay looked over at him, eyes wide in surprise. 

“Really?” Questioned the blonde. “Aren’t you sick of that place?” Stephen nodded grimly, but stood up. 

“I… I miss Hosuh.” He said simply. “I’ll be by the car. Work out whatever argument you’re about to have.” With a final chuckle, Stephen opened the door and left. He heard Dan and Jay laugh along.

  
  


The car ride was far cheerier than he could ever remember Jay and Dan being, in real life, that is. “We both have class at one, can you wait around here for awhile?” Dan inquired, Stephen nodded. 

Jay, of course, had called shotgun quite quickly; and was now fiddling with the music controls. Dan laughed as the blonde accidentally pulled up his contacts list, or then the gps map. 

Even once the hospital had come into view, or the car was slowly pulling into a parking spot, the positive mood seemed to cling to the three. A nurse waved a hello to Daniel, as well as a sadder wave to Jay and Stephen. 

Hosuh had been alone for the week, what with the other side of the room still being empty. His hair was down, pulled around the right of his head. Stephen couldn’t see the other’s baby blue eyes, or even the calming glow around them. 

Jay and Daniel had left hours ago. Darkness had barely begun to choke the room. Falling asleep in a hospital had ceased bothering him; so he curled up in the chair right next to Hosuh's bed.

  
  


He dreamed of an emerald green field, green-black trees shooting up into a navy sky. A blurry haze floated in front of him. In dreamlike fashion, he was walking forwards before he could tell his mind to run away. 

The area spun around, ebbing and changing into an older, bustling city square. A girl grabbed his hand, dragging him behind a salon. Charlotte smiled up at him, her hair in twin braids along the sides of her head. “Come on, Purple; Hosuh is waiting for you!” She exclaimed excitedly. “Come  _ on _ .” 

_ “Go with her.”  _ He hadn’t heard it in so long, but there it was. The voice was certainly back. He wouldn’t, he couldn't; this had to be a nightmare. This was just a fucking nightmare, nothing more. 

Charlotte lead the two around the area; townspeople becoming fewer and fewer as she lead them outwards. A stream slowly began appearing from far away in the mountains. It grew larger and larger; until a small footbridge appeared in the distance. 

Charlotte jumped; the way she’d done many times around Stephen; except this time, she took him with her. His head spun when he appeared in front of Hosuh. Hosuh. Oh, god, Hosuh; he was finally there. 

“Stephen, thank god, Velveteen told me you weren’t here last time.” He went quiet for a moment. “I was worried, to be honest.” Stephen didn’t know what to do. He could barely stand the two previous weeks, and here was Hosuh, baby blue eyes gleaming happily. 

A feeling he didn’t realise was burning in his chest bloomed into his throat. He hugged Hosuh tightly, unsure of what else to do. “St-Stephen?” asked Hosuh suddenly, caught off guard. “Are you alright?” 

Stephen drew back, cheeks dusted red. “Yeah, yeah… I just… missed you.” Hosuh chuckled to himself, smiling contently. 

“I missed you too. You’ve… you’ve always been there; always been something positive.” Red brushed his cheeks, eyes faraway to Stephen’s left. 

A loud sound came from the direction of the village. Both boys jumped to stand on reflex. Charlotte jumped to the footbridge, worry glazing her big eyes. “We have to  _ go _ ! Bye, Hosuh.” She grabbed Stephen’s hand, jumping back to the village. 

The two reappeared in the front room of one of the houses. It was smaller, with only a large sofa in the middle. There were six doors lining the walls. One had a clip art speaker, like the kind one would see on the sound toggle keys of a laptop. Another with a clipart version of a hospital bed. The third room, directly behind the sofa, had a clip art dream catcher, with  _ Keep Out  _ sprawled in loopy, hypnotizing font. 

“Go to sleep before Velveteen realises we’ve been out.” Charlotte whispered, gesturing lightly to the hospital-bed room. The door was slightly ajar, showing a smaller bed and nightstand. 

He crept forwards, following Charlotte’s manner. The room was warm, comfortable. The plush carpet felt like walking on clouds, the spring mattress even more so. He closed his eyes, though sleep refused to come to him.

He thought of Hosuh, missed him. There they had been, finally reunited for just a few moments.  _ “Save him.”  _ The voice pleaded. But it wasn’t really the voice, more of an idea too important to be thought. 

There it was decided; Hosuh was going to be saved, some way or another. Stephen would get him out of this place, they’d wake up, go back to Dan and Jay.  _ I love you _ . He thought to himself just as he drifted off to sleep. 

  
  


A siren blared in his ear. He sat up on a sofa sitting in a smaller living room. The sound continues for a few moments before a voice reverberated in Stephen’s head.  _ “This is The Purge, Hosuh's final world.”  _ Explained the voice. 

Ignoring the final comment, he got up and tiptoed to the kitchen. Who the fuck knew what people were capable of on Purge night. A few knives found their ways into his pockets. A large, serrated one was clutched in his right hand. 

The door opened with the slow creak of an old building. The hallway was dark, good. Stephen let his eyes adjust before setting out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm gonna have to take a short break on this over the holidays, sorry. I've barely begun writing the next chapter and just... ahh. I also may just post anyways because frick logic.


	14. Explanation

I really am sorry for this, but I'm cancelling the continuing of Stability. I know many of you are seeing this message pop up alot and are probably really quite dreading it, but I feel that I cannot end this work with peace of mind. As of recent events in the original Danplan channel, Stephen has quit. He has a video on his own channel that explains it.

I may use peices of this premise and plot again, but they will be in an original work. I do expect there will be more works from this account, but I cannot say that any will be in relation to Danplan. I do hope what has become the ending of Stability is closure enough, but I see that it wouldn't be. I wish the best of luck to Stephen, and all of you reading. Thank you for your kudos and comments, they really do mean a lot to me, So I apologize once again.


End file.
